“Tiger 3” definitely feels like the fifth entry in a franchise, for the better (usually) and the worse (obviously). Tiger’s latest adventure features better action choreography and more storytelling polish than “Pathaan,” Shah Rukh Khan’s rickety comeback vehicle and the most recent extension of the Yash Raj Spy Universe. Tiger made a perfunctory cameo appearance in “Pathaan,” so nobody should be surprised to learn that the Badshah of Bollywood returns the favor in “Tiger 3.” It’s a superior guest spot, too, complete with goofier dad joke banter and more spectacular special effects and stunt work. If you cross your eyes, you might even believe that both Salman and Shah Rukh were on the same set at the same time. Advantage: “Tiger 3.”
Salman’s latest seat-warmer also benefits from being a second sequel. The filmmakers clearly have a better idea of how to make this type of movie now, unlike the creators of “Ek Tha Tiger,” Tiger’s lifeless 2012 debut. “Tiger 3” is also a better buddy movie. Kaif gets to steal a couple of scenes, just like she did in “Tiger Zinda Hai,” including a dynamically choreographed and lightly horny cat fight set in a Russian bathhouse. Kaif still looks better with a gun than Khan does, but even he seems more at ease than before as a pumped-up Tom Cruise clone, dangling from the ceiling and leaping into helicopters with his signature boyish smirk.
“Tiger 3” might be a milestone for the Yash Raj Spy movies. After 11 years, these programmatic wannabe blockbusters are finally defined by the same lightly likable, creative committee-calibrated genericism that’s come to characterize Marvel’s artery-stiffening fast-food cinema. “Tiger 3” could also be a passable fluke, since who knows how convoluted and/or compelling the series might become once it unites Salman and Shah Rukh’s marquee-topping heroes with Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff’s characters from “War,” whose sequel is now in production.
You still might get what you want from “Tiger 3” during the action and musical scenes, which have their moments. A holiday crowd might be the ideal audience for this family-friendly potboiler. Everyone else should wait until “Tiger 3” suddenly appears on some high-trafficked streaming service, a swaggier and more surprising move than anything Salman attempts in his latest money-maker.
In theaters now.
Sumber: www.rogerebert.com
